There were multiple triple-0 calls for cases of heat exposure, including for a 70-year-old man at Windang, a 45-year-old woman at Austinmer Beach and a 26-year-old man at Cordeaux Heights, who was working on machinery when he succumbed to the effects of heat exhaustion.

Statewide, the Ambulance Service of NSW had responded to 44 cases of heat exposure – one third of whom were for people over 60 – by 3pm.

Over the same period there were 89 reports of people falling unconscious or fainting and 37 instances of vomiting.

“Many of those cases are attributable to the heat,” an ambulance spokeswoman said.

It was also the hottest day in recorded history in Sydney, which experienced more heat-related illness, transport chaos and even melting roads and ice rinks.

The mercury hit 45.8 at Sydney’s Observatory Hill at 2.55pm, exceeding the previous record of 45.3 set on January 14, 1939.

The record temperature was similar to that recorded in places in the NSW far west, such as White Cliffs, which sweated the day out in around 44-degree heat.

That was topped by temperatures in Penrith, in western Sydney, which reached 46.5 degrees.

Sparks from Sydney’s monorail briefly set fire to trees and grass near the entertainment centre while at the Big Day Out music festival in Homebush, a St John Ambulance spokesman said the organisation treated 200 people, mostly for dehydration.

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